Tank inlet valve



July 6, 1954 F. E. MCLAUGHLIN TANK INLET VALVE Filed Feb. 4, 1950 ATTORNEY Patented July 6, 1.95.4

@umm-ED TANK INLET-'VALVE 'FredzEiMcLaug-hlin-,f Centralia,.W-ash.; assigner to Howard P..:Braman,Tacoma, Wash.

.'@Appiieatiolflvebruary 4, ieso'seriamo: 142,502

-2.Claims. il Y .fllhisfinventionmelates to lvalvesand Alespecia'lly .tothesinlet valves of toiletutanks. l

:The: fobjects of: myainvention :arepfrstntofrpro- -zduce fa ball valvef'structure which ltwill :operate -silen-tly, twithout '.'chatter esecorid, :to provide showing my improved valve installed therein;v

Figf2-is a1vertical-sectionof-my valve, taken on the line r2-zz2rinilig- 3f-and .sho-wing the valve closed; Fig. 3 is a similar View, taken on the, line 3--3 in Fig.-2and showing the-valve open;; Fig. 14 is ajplaniview ofthe Valvellifter; andi-Eig. 5 lisa side elevation'thereof.

',ldentical'-numer`als f rference refer`to=the Ysaine ,partspthroughout"theseveral views.

I` am aware'that many valveshavefbeendnvented which use metaYbaIlsaSI-the active-element. The balls ofthese valvesLhave beeneraised offthieiriseats by a central pin-with itheeresult that; when" the water" isv flowing 'therepast, 'they violently spin yand vibrate causing loud and disagreeable chatter and a uctuating flow of the water in the supply pipe. The main purpose of this invention is to eliminate all these objections.

This purpose is accomplished mainly by two means; rst, the ball itself is made of rubber instead of metal; and second, the displacing pin, or lifter, does not engage centrally under the ball but displaces it and raises it off the valve seat from one side alone, thus pushing the ball laterally against the side and allowing the water to flow freely therepast, without resulting disagreeable noise and chatter.

Referring now to th-e drawings, it will be seen that the frame or body I9 of the valve comprises an upper chamber II, into which the receiving passage I2 empties, and having a suitable valve seat I3 formed at its lower end, sa-id valve seat surrounding the upper end of the vertical passage I4 forming a lower outlet chamber with which the outflow passage I5 connects. The receiving passage I2 is contained in a side extension I6 of the frame I0, into which the supply pipe I'I is securely tapped whereby the entire valve structure is supported. The lower end of 'flanges I"8', yandi-above the toe 23 of the vleverll.y

fT-he base -of the lifter-I9 -is'fshaped sothatfit l S2 sthe :,fvertical jrpassage f I4 opens out between two lflangesIIb-and,J contains the. valve lifter; I9-fwhich `sis,.particularly .illustrated in Figsi and 5.

fThe vfloat lever-29is pivotedfto the framel IU Iat .2l landlies betweenthesaid,flanges I8,:and...is providedv atits upperv end-,byassuitablel float ..22 .in..the .usual manner. The .leverlY isrprovided atritselowercendwithlaztoe 23 extending` there- ,frommnderlthe .vertical passage. I4, .as clearly seeninEig. 2.

'.The4 valve 24 .com-prisesa .spherical v.iballVpre'ferably made ofrubbenfand v,adapted -tostop the passage of Awater therepastwhen itis. restingon the valve seat I3. 'Since theiu'll waterlpressure of the water system loca-tedin theupperchamber- I Las .against the head of water in the. tank, "itifollows thatthere will be .considerable pressure on the'ball 24to holdit solidly down on -the seat I3,"andsincethe ballis'madeof rubber,

I`'which isslightlyresilient, the ballV will close any unevenness Uirr'the contact between; it varid the seat.

' v' "Theverticalpassage' I'lly 'isprovidedwith a `loose lifter t19comprising-a solid cylindricalpart 25 which; fitsflooselyiin 'the Apassage I 4'- Iandeextends outA therefrom to the "space Ybetween the two prevents the cylinder 25'from'turning in thegpassagel Iii; `Awah/e?#lif-tingffinger 2'I,--of thelifter I9 :FGF-'igsfia 25) lextends upward from the' solid '-ciyli'ndricalvportioit -and comprises a part thereof cut away longitudinallyi=at 28= solasiltolleave only an ,arc ,subtending' about one-half of the circle, and .hollowed out with its upper end 29 pointed as shown. Thus the valve lifter I9 only touches the ball 24 at a point well removed from its central vertical diameter, and when the said lifter I9 is raised the finger end 29 pushes the ball 24 to one side, off the seat I3, and against the side wall of the chamber II, permitting the free flow of the water therepast and holding the ball from causing any noise as the water flows.

The valve lifter is raisedby the toe extension 23 of thelever 29 as soon as the float falls below a determined level, thus opening the valve to permit water to dow past the finger 2'! and out into the tank by the passage I5. The passage Y I5 is positioned in a second side extension 30 of Thus it will be seen that my improvedtanlr 33 of the inlet valve is made of the fewest and simplest parts; does not raise the ball Valve from its center, 'as in the usual ball valve construction, but displaces it laterally to allow the water to pass without spinning or other objectionable noisy movement, and holds it in such position; and that the action of the valve is enhanced by making the ball of rubber.

It is to be understood that many changes in the construction of the valve and its parts may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as outlined in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An inlet valve for flush-type tanks, comprising: a valve body having an upper inlet chamber and a lower outlet chamber therein in communication with each other, said body including a metal valve seat between said chambers and a resilient ball valve mounted in said upper chamber to rest directly upon said metal valve seat to interrupt communication between said chambers; said lower chamber having an outlet lateral therefrom with relation to the iiow of liquid from the inlet chamber to the outlet chamber,

said lower chamber also having a vertical cylindrical guideway passage beneath said valve, a tappet mounted in said guideway passage having a solid cylindrical body positioned beneath said lateral outlet and having an upstanding nger extending above said lateral outlet, said nger having a hollowed-out substantially hemicylindrical shape with a pointed upper end disposed on that side of the tappet away from the lateral opening, said tappet being vertically movable from a lower position in which said finger is disposed below said valve seat to an upper position in which said iinger extends through said valve seat contacting said ball valve displacing the latter from the seat and to one side and holding the ball valve against the side wall of said upper chamber with its hollow side to prevent chattering of the valve; meansincluding a lifting iinger operating against the bottom of said tappet to raise the same from said lower position to said upper position responsive to the lowy 2. An inlet valve for flush-type tanks, comprising: a valve body having an upper inlet chamber and a lower outlet chamber therein in communication with each other, said bodyincluding a metal valve seat between said chambers, a resilient ball valve mounted in said upper chamber to rest directly upon said metal valve seat to interrupt communication between said chambers; said lower chamber having an outlet lateral therefrom with relation to the flow of liquid from the inlet chamber to the outlet chamber, said lower chamber also having a vertical guideway passage beneath said valve seat, a tappet mounted in said guideway passage having a solid cylindrical body positioned beneath said lateral outlet and having a relatively narrow upstanding iinger extending above said lateral outlet, said ringer being eccentric of the tappet to that side away from the lateral opening, said tappet being vertically movable from a lower position in which said iinger is disposed below said valve seat to an upper position in which said finger extends through said valve seat contacting said ball valve to displace the latter from the seat and to one side; means including a lifting iinger operating against the bottom of said tappet to raise the same from said lower position to said upper position responsive to the lowering of the liquid level in the flush tank and permitting lowering of said tappet upon raising of the liquid level; said valve body having a pair of flanges depending beneath said guideway passage on either side and the lower end of said tappet having a pair of ilat surfaces on either side abutting the sides of said flanges preventing rotation of said tappet with respect to said lateral opening.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 571,168 Mott NOV. 10, 1895 925,153 Barry June 15, 1909 1,042,775 English Oct. 29, 1912 1,140,712 Price May 25, 1915 1,384,450 Greeson July 12, 1921 1,447,231 Barry Mar. 6, 1923 1,476,029 Black Dec. 4, 1923 1,494,786 Kawalle May 20, 1924 2,246,388 Sica June 17, 1941 

